C L I M AT E C H A N G E A N D A G R I C U LT U R E
A look at legislative activities, administration priorities and industry actions. W R I T T E N B Y Howard Olson, SVP Government and Public Affairs
Climate change and climate policy are top priorities for President Biden, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary, Tom Vilsack, and the new administration. Legislation has been introduced in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House that gives USDA authorization to act as a facilitator for the carbon markets. This has several agricultural organizations putting together workgroups, white papers and recommendations on climate responses. Agriculture will play a key role in the climate change fight. The question is how, and can we have input that benefits our industry?
L E G I S L AT I O N Last June, Senate Ag Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow and others introduced a bill in the Senate, with a similar bill dropping in the House, called the Growing Climate Solutions Act. The goal of the legislation is to bring transparency and build trust among farmers and ranchers who want to participate in private carbon markets. It creates a carbon market certification program at USDA, a Greenhouse Gas Technical Provider and a Third-Party Verifier Certification program to provide transparency and legitimacy to the ag carbon markets. They want to help private landowners generate carbon credits through
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a variety of agriculture and forestry-related practices and connect landowners to private sector carbon markets. It also calls for USDA to create a website, which will serve as a “one-stop shop” of information and resources.
A D M I N I S T R AT I O N A N D U S D A The Climate 21 Project is considered a blueprint for the new administration and has a section specific to USDA. The plan includes recommendations to invest in natural climate solutions and make climate-smart investments, such as: •
Establish a carbon bank using Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) authorities and funding;
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Fund climate-smart practices through USDA conservation programs;
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Create incentives in climate-smart agriculture through crop insurance policies; and
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Increase the adoption of methane digesters for livestock.
